Wrench



Aug. 28, 1923.

' E. MATTHEWS WRENCH Filed April 13, 1922 nuts and will also handle square nuts.

nane oFFiciE,

EDWARD MATTHEWS, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

WRENCH.

Application and April is.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD MA'rrHnws, citizen of the United States of America, residing at city of Denver, county of Denver, State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompany. ing drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this specification.

This invention relates to wrenches and has for its object the provision of a simple and serviceable wrench that shall be so constructed and designed that without adjusting means it will operate in connection with a number of different sizes of hexagonal It is a further object to produce a wrench having only two parts and which will not only cooperate with hexagonal nuts i of various sizes but which will ratchet thus making it unnecessary to remove and apply the wrench at every move that is made. My wrench is also so designed that its action is positive with nuts within the range of its adaptability.

In order to more clearly describe my in vention, I shall have reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of my wrench.

Fig. 2 showsa front elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 shows a rear elevation thereof.

Fig. 4 shows my wrench applied to the largest size of hexagon nut with which it can be used.

Fig. 5 shows the wrench applied to an in termediate size ofnut, and i Fig. 6 shows it applied to the smallest size nut with which it can conveniently be employed. I

The same reference numerals will be used to indicate the sam parts throughout the several views. My wrench consists of two members,' a handle 1 and a jaw member 2, which is -pivotally attached thereto by a pivot 3. The

' handle is preferably a broad flat piece of metal having-Ta thickened head portion 4, and a widened end portion 5 (Fig. 5) wh1ch is provided with an opening for the reception of the pivot pin 3. The jaw Inember2 1922. SerialNo. 552,271.

is what may be loosely designated as canthook shaped and is provided at one end with a pair of spaced arms 6 and 7 which straddle the widened end portion 5 and have openlugs for the reception of the pivot pin The hooked member 2 has its inner surface formed by three sides which form'angles of 120 degrees with each other; these sides have been designated as a, b, and c. The thickened head portion 4 has its front end formed of two plalnesurfaces 01 and e, which form an angle with each other: planes (Z. and c cooperate with the sides of the n'uts'in a manner which will hereinafter be pointed out and constitute an important feature of applicants invention.

In Fig. 4, I have shown my wrench applied to a nut of the maximum size with which the wrench will properly cooperate. It will be noted that the nut is of such a size that it fits snugly between sides a, 7),

and c. Vhen a nut of the size shown in Fig. 4 is to be rotated the surfaced will engage with one side of the nut in the manner shown. Vhen force is applied to the handle in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4 there will be a tendency to cause the surface (Z to slide inwardly on the side of nut 8 thus clamping the nut securely against the sides a, b, and 0. When a new hold is desired the wrench is merely rotated in the opposite direction, in. which direction it will move freely. A new hold can then be taken of the nut.

In Fig. 5 I have shown the wrench employed on a medium sized nut, It will be noted that in this case the sides of the nut merely contactwith sides a and b, and that the side of the nut opposite from side?) is engaged by the angle formed by surfaces (1 and 6. Since the force applied to the handle acts in the direction of the arrow it is evident that th tendency will be to retain the nut in the angle between sides a and b. On moving the wrench in the reverse direction it is obvious that its hold on the nut'will be l want to call attention at this point to the importance of side a. An inspection of the drawings will show that in every case the nut is in contact with this surface and besides, side ais essential in order to obtain a ratcheting effect as without this side the hook 2 would leave the nut when the wrench is reversely rotated.

The specific shape of the cant hook 2 and the end of handle 1, therefore cooperate to produce a wrench that is adapted to handle a large number of different sizes of hexagonal nuts and to ratchet on the. same. The model from which the drawing was made will successfully handle nuts from H inch to inch and will handle live different sizes of S. A. E. hexagonal nuts, three (3) ditlerent sizesof U. S. hexagonal nuts as well as two (2) ditferent sizes of square nuts or ten (10) sizes all. together. It is thus apparent that by means of three wrenches of graded size thirty diiferent sizes of nuts can be handled,

An inspection of Fig. 6 will show .that

since the aw member is pivoted on the pin 3 and since. the arcuate surfaces between the jaw member and the widened end portion 5 is curved on a radius that is greater thanthe distance from the center of pin 3 to the arcuate surfaces referred to, the arcuate surface'of widened portion 5 will serve as a. stop by means of which the swinging of the jaw member is limited. Attention is also called to the fact that the pivot pin 3 is located on the other side of the axis of the handle from that occupied by the angular surfaces at and e. As a result of the' relative locations of the pivot pin and the angular surfaces referred to, a greater variety of sizes-of nuts can be handled, as the nut receiving opening has a greater. range of adjustment with the arrangement shown than it would have if the pivot pin were on the same side of the axis of the handle as the angular surfaces at and e. In my specific embodiment of wrench, the jaws are always open or can be moved to open position by a simple turn of the hand which adapts the wrench for use in places where one hand only can be employed, as distinguished from wrenches that have springs for holding the aws in closed position. I am aware that wrenches have been made that embody broadly the principles underlying my wrench construction, but I consider that my improvements produce a simpler and" more practicable wrench which possesses increased capacity for a given size and which can be conveniently operated by one hand.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new is:

l. A wrench comprising, in combination, a

handle having anut engaging head integral therewith, said head having two angularly inclined faces adapted to cooperate with the sides of a nut, each of. said faces forming a different angle with a plane passing transversely through the handle in a, longitudinal direction, a projecting portion extending to one side of the handle at the end to which the nut engaging head is secured, a jaw member hingedly connected to the projecting portion and adapted to cooperate with the angularly inclined faces for the purpose of engaging the sides of a nut, said jaw lmving' three nut engaging surfaces forming an angle of 120 degrees witheach other, the relationship of the central nut engaging surface of the jaw and the cooperating face on the nut engaging head being such that they are substantially parallel when the jaw is in position to engage the minimum size nuts, and means for limiting the opening of the jaw, said means comprising a part of the projecting portion which extends outwardly a suflicient distance to engage the jaw as the latter is moved outwardly. j

2. A wrench comprising a substantially straight handle having one end provided with a nut engaging head comprising two angularly inclined faces, a flattened portion extending outwardly from said handle at the end carrying the nut engaging head, an opening in the flattened portion, a cant hookshaped jaw having one end slotted to engage said flattened portion, a. pivot pinpassing through said opening and through the slotted portion of the jaw, said jaw having three nut engaging surfaces forming an angle of 120 degrees with each other, the relationship between the central surface and the cooperating surface of the nut engaging head being such that they are substantially parallel when the wrench is operatively connected to a minimum sized nut, and means for limiting the opening movement of said jaw, said means comprising a part'of said flattened portion which projects outwardly a sutticient distance to engage the bottom of the slot and form a stop.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. I

anwann MATTHEWS... 

